Trail Report: We Humped, We Bumped, We Survived

[TipsE-Z]

Well; thanks to Az Standard Mountain Time and the time change... We managed to make it home by 1:30 local time. 3 hours of sleep ahead before I head into work.

What an amazing weekend! Special thanks to everyone there for spotting my Lil Red Jeep through some gnarly stuff; as well as dragging us up a few things. I don't think there is anyone who didn't snatch us at some point. I'll post up pictures and video this week once I'm caught up on sleep. Also a special thanks to Az DPS (Highway Patrol) who was kind enough to stop us not once, but twice to give us warnings about my driver tail light being out... For that to be my only carnage is amazing. Wow, so much to say about this trip but honestly I'm wiped out. More later!

Next year is going to be a blast, and Kalah now agrees that the cage is the next item on the Jeep list; guess sliding down a notch, standing on two, and sliding sideways across a hill has convinced her.

[I H8RDS]

"
Next year is going to be a blast, and Kalah now agrees that the cage is the next item on the Jeep list; guess sliding down a notch, standing on two, and sliding sideways across a hill has convinced her. "

LOL, now that's funny! You should Really be stoked! Sounds like you've got a lady who loves Jeepin as much as you do. That's the hard part. Spending money is the easy part. If you don't build your own cage, Rock Hard is who I went with. It's a good cage if you're buying one. Can't wait to see some pics!

[TipsE-Z]

Well, I have a few minutes so I figure I'll get the pictures posted up and edit video later.

Kalah and I headed out early on Thursday morning, we figured we'd give Chuck, Kurt, Curtis, Russ, and anyone else a few extra minutes to get to camp since we didn't have GPS coords. We stopped off for some sight seeing on our drive up.



We are truly big dorks.


When we arrived we rushed as much as possible to get camp set up, but we still ended up getting a late start on Thursday evening's MJR main attraction; BRONCO FALLS as it's called, it should be named Change Your Shorts.

Headed into the canyon.


Lined up waiting for the staining experience.


Chuck getting ready to head up.


Sadly I don't have any more digital photos from this so I'll have to post more when we get Kalah's film developed.

Friday morning we had all signed up for Rock Bottom, there was 27 rigs in the group.


The first obstacle is an S Curve type of thing, up some steps; me being open I had to take a tug up.


Towards the end of the run, and before we hit the XC that I posted further down in a reply was this obstacle, I took the misses back down it later and I think she had both hands on grab handles and her toes curled around some too.... It's pretty steep.
http://youtu.be/pbsQk0kpTM8

After the official run we struck out on our own to do some Extra Credit, always good for the grade books

Everyone else handled this with no issues, again being open caused me to take a line. Better than using an axle I'd brought.


Just for an idea of the waterfall step, here's a photo of Kurt standing at the bottom of it. There is a video of my little tug up it further down in a reply post.


A little later we opted to take a long V-Notch, I opted to be a putz and not listen to my spotter, then promptly slid about 6 feet down the rock face on my mirror.

Here's a video from it so you can get an idea of the angle I was at after being an idiot.
http://youtu.be/-QnxhEJ3mDo

Friday night the rain came in, and it got colder than it had been on Thursday. With the wind howling and temps in the 30s Kalah and Peanut convinced Vita and I to eat in the Jeep; I refused to run the heater in it all night so they bundled up.


Saturday morning we opted for Arockalypse... If the name doesn't scare you wait until you see the wonderful video that I'm sure Mr. Green and Dirtman will put together. Here's the group getting ready to head into the canyon.


Brett (VWTipeii) got sucked into my loose track from where I had drove sliding sideways all the way across this loose dirt. He stopped before he went over and a line was the best choice, the rest of the group came up a rock wash to the right of this shot, a much safer option.

Posers.


Now we've traversed the rolling hills to the 1/8 (if that) mile that would soak up the next 5 hours of our lives, and what a time it was!

Mike setting up for the main obstacle, this photo just doesn't do it justice.

Being open yet again cause me to take a strap. We ended up with one on everybody simply to keep the front end down; but everyone else drove it fully locked.


That's it for my photos for now, sorry it's so spotty but there are lots more to come when we get film developed as my phone died after this photo. What a trip; I'm sure I'll post more when I have time but for now it's best I actually get to work, at work.

[6spdYJ]

It's not just cool to see how far your rig has come so fast, but especially that you started as a stocker and the big boys took you in. Now, here you are out on stuff like this with them. Class act folks!

[TipsE-Z]

It's not just cool to see how far your rig has come so fast, but especially that you started as a stocker and the big boys took you in. Now, here you are out on stuff like this with them. Class act folks!

You said it! Just like I told everyone there as we pulled back onto pavement after the run yesterday, if it wasn't for them being at Hump N Bump I would have stayed home and worked some OT. But because of how incredibly the folks here at MJR have handled me ever since my first trip out is why I'll always do my best to make any major MJR outing like this. I'm anxiously awaiting my next opportunity to run with the MJR folks. Who knows, maybe one day MJR can make a road trip to Phoenix to run some of the trails I now call home.... I'm for sure wanting to do a snow run/camping trip to BB this January.

[TipsE-Z]

Well I finally found a couple videos that don't require any editing to get online, I added links to my original post, but to give you an example of what Ted was speaking of with these guys, the post below is me getting a little help on an optional water fall near the end of Rock Bottom.

[TipsE-Z]

http://youtu.be/qVEpl8y6O40

[TipsE-Z]

"
LOL, now that's funny! You should Really be stoked! Sounds like you've got a lady who loves Jeepin as much as you do. That's the hard part. Spending money is the easy part. If you don't build your own cage, Rock Hard is who I went with. It's a good cage if you're buying one. Can't wait to see some pics!

My lady is awesome, she's indeed one of a kind. I'm talking to a guy here at work who has his own business doing metal work. He's working to give me a quote to finish the front of the cage with the A Pillar being tied into the frame. Eventually I'll tie the B and C pillars in as well, but for now I this is what is in the budget.

[JK08]

Looks like fun times.

[RAT]

Chris,
You are one Hell of a driver. It was more fun watching you drive than it was driving. Well, almost...
i'll have pictures up tomorrow. My video camera is toast so Chuck and Mike will have to git wit it.

[I H8RDS]

Nice sized waterfall!

[Mike]

Nice pics and video Chris!

Here are some of our pics to add the thread. We arrived late on Friday night after some VERY heavy rain. The road into the canyon where we were camped was a muddy wreck and I was regretting that I haven't fixed my 4WD on the truck. Regardless, the next morning was clear and beautiful:


Being posers, we had to have our breakfast pose:




On the way to Arockalypse, we found another place to pose on Hawkins Trail (yes, that is snow on the mountains in the background!):


After a false start up Matterhorn Trail, we found the entrance to the Arockalypse Trail:


Even though the trail was clearly marked, there were a couple of moments that I thought that we missed the mark:


But when we got to the infamous Rock, I knew that we had made it to the right place:


I tackled the Rock first:


Next?:


Chuck rocked the Rock!:




Chris did a great job of getting to the Rock with open diffs, but needed help up:


Brett came next and put on quite the show:




I missed Russ coming up the Rock because I was moving ahead to make room on the trail, but I made it back just as Kurt crawled up:


Curtis apparently wanted to make a nice showing like Brett before he crawled up the Rock:


The top of the canyon wasn't far away after we crested the Rock:




I tried an alternate line but had to eventually back off due to a front locker not working:


We all went up an uncomfortably tilty notch to get out of the canyon:


The top was seriously steep. Chuck made it up and then used his winch to help the rest of us:


Everyone needed at least a small tug to get up... That is, except Curtis. He had the winch attached, but rolled right up the cliff! Check out his face when he made it:


The trail is a loop with a mostly easy roll back down:


The BBQ seemed to be a hit:


And several MJR folks hit the good stuff at the Raffle:


As usual, it was a great event. I'm glad to see more MJR folks there this year and I am looking forward to next year!

[Russ Chung]

I arrived at the Hump N Bump 2011 base camp at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Logandale on Thursday afternoon, 11/3. It was my first time at the Hump N Bump event. Curtis was already there so I set up my camp next to his.



Meanwhile, Kurt (Rat), and Chuck (Dirtman13) set up camp in the canyon near the trails, then they came over to the fairgrounds to register for the event. After registration, Chris (TipsEZ) joined us as we explored some of the Logandale Trails. Chuck led us to Bronco Falls. Chuck's CJ followed by Kurt's TJ, Chris' YJ, and Curtis' TJ.



Chuck shows the way up Bronco Falls:





Kurt was next:



Chris took a different line:



Curtis starts up Bronco Falls:



After everyone got up the Falls, Kurt led us to Shedder Bowl. We played in the Bowl until after dark.



(continued)

[Russ Chung]

Brett (vwtipeli) arrived at the fairgrounds early Friday morning after driving most of the night from Southern California. After tech inspection and registration, I told him we had plenty of time before the start of the Rock Bottom trail, so he set up his tent next to Curtis' and my tents. Unfortunately (for us), the Rock Bottom group departed earlier than scheduled, so Brett and I joined the Shedder Bowl group instead.

Friday morning was sunny and clear. The Shedder Bowl was more crowded than the day before:



Brett got some air:



Brett got some more air on the final obstacle on the Shedder Trail:





After finishing the Shedder Trail, Brett and I went over to look for Chuck, Kurt, Chris and Curtis at their campsite, but they had not finished running the Rock Bottom Trail. We discovered that the wind had blown over one of Chuck's tents, so we set it back up, but another gust of wind turned it over again. We returned to the fairgrounds, and learned that the trail crew was looking for a replacement Dana 35 axle shaft. Brett was pretty sure that Chris had brought the spare axle shafts that he had sold to Chris, so we headed back to the canyon to find Chris, then watched while the crew recovered the vehicle from the Bowl:





On the way back to the fairgrounds, we decided to take an "extra credit" route, and Brett managed to get some more air time:





By the time, we returned to the fairgrounds, we saw rain clouds moving into the area. By sunset, the rain was falling steadily. We set up Curtis' easy up to give us shelter while we prepared and ate dinner.



After dinner, we enjoyed a small campfire from the shelter of the easy up:



(continued)

[Russ Chung]

Saturday morning was clear and sunny. Friday night's storm had left snow on the mountain peaks and eliminated the dust from the trails. Mike Anderson (Mike) and Sharon Anderson had arrived during the night and had set up camp in the canyon with Chuck, Kurt and Chris. Curtis, Brett and I joined them for a run to the Arockalypse Trail.

Here's the Magnificent Seven lined up on the trail. From left to right, Mike's Green TJ, Curtis' silver TJ, Brett's black YJ, Chuck's green CJ, Kurt's maroon TJ, Chris' red YJ and my khaki TJ:



Enroute, we got a nice view of the Matterhorn area:



Brett climbing the waterfall on the Arockalypse Trail:





We arrive at the Rock:





Mike:





Chuck:



Brett:



Chuck spotting Kurt:





Curtis thinks it over:



Curtis over the Rock:



The view of the Matterhorn from the Arockalypse Trail:



We returned to the fairgrounds where we enjoyed the BBQ dinner and raffle.